Digital Nomads: Why You Need Them In Your Business

The term ‘digital nomad’ has grown in popularity recently. It refers to people who prefer to be able to live and work anywhere in the world, utilising telecommunications technology rather than being a part of a traditional workplace. 

It might be that you have never considered specifically hiring digital nomads in the past – indeed, most businesses still focus their recruitment around local staff. But, hiring digital nomads can actually be very beneficial to your business. Here we take a look at why. 

Access to talent

Perhaps one of the best reasons that businesses have to consider hiring digital nomads is that it opens up their potential workforce. If your business will only employ within a reasonable commuting distance from your base, you are limited to the people who are willing to commute. Opting for remote workers can provide you with access to talent.

And this could be a crucial time to do it. There is a well-publicised digital skills shortage and if you need to get specific digital skills into your business, it can actually be very expensive. This problem is worsened significantly if you limit where these skills can come from. 

In this sense by working with digital nomads you are actually opening yourself up to the possibility of saving significant money on staff. That’s before you consider the ongoing costs of not moving forward with plans, or not having them completed by skilled professionals. 

Access specific skills

It’s not just the fact that you can access a greater number of potential staff. Being open to working with digital nomads gives your business the chance to bring in the specific set of skills you need for a period without having to hire someone locally. Indeed, many of those with advanced technical skills may be more interested in working as a digital nomad.

For example, 84% of chief technology officers (CTOs) understand the benefit of moving to the cloud but not enough companies have the skills to do it. Digital nomads can provide the kind of technical skills that you need without having to hire someone on a full-time basis. When you need high quality skills for a specific project, this can be a great way to get them. 

Different perspective

Remember that when you bring someone into your business, you gain more than just the skills on their CV. There can be a danger that if all of your staff come from the same area, you will only get a very narrow perspective from them. While it is good to have staff who all understand each other and can work towards a shared goal, there is also much to be gained from a diversity of perspective. 

When you hire a digital nomad into a business that is primarily made up of in-office workers, you get someone who is more likely to think in a different way to them. This can bring a hugely valuable perspective difference that can spark new ideas or encourage creative thinking. 

Businesses can very easily miss out on new opportunities simply because they do not know that they exist. Hiring digital nomads can help broaden horizons and make it less likely that this situation will occur. 

Offering flexibility to staff

There can be no doubt that the pandemic changed a lot of working habits. Many people were forced to work from home – while others found themselves changing their hours to suit their schedules better. But, as businesses have returned to the office, there have been some who haven’t continued offering that same flexibility to staff. 

By re-embracing the possibilities of remote working and hiring a digital nomad, your company can once again enjoy the benefit of providing staff with more flexible opportunities. Some members of the team may have preferred the working situation where they could change up their hours as necessary. 

Hiring digital nomads can act as the catalyst to offer this kind of working arrangement permanently. This might be more effective than you think – it has previously been reported that over a third of staff would prefer flexible working to a pay rise.

Save on office space

Undoubtedly office space remains one of the major expenses of any business. Having to pay for a property all year round can be a huge cost, especially if you have to rent a working space that is much larger than you currently need to give you the room to be able to grow. Digital nomads offer you the opportunity to grow without using office space. 

Without having to worry about finding space (or, worse) actually moving office, you can focus on more important aspects of recruitment. 

Move forward as a digital business

If you have never considered digital nomads for your workforce before, it may be that your business hasn’t fully embraced the possibilities with digital technology. Working with a remote member of staff can actually open up new opportunities and allow your business to thrive as a modern, digital operation.